Safety clothesline hook



Oct. 25, 1949. J. BERMAN 2,486,248

SAFETY CLOTHESLINE HOOK Filed Nov. '1, 1946 IN V EN TOR.

219- I J. BERMAN BY fla ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 25, 1949 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE SAFETY CLOTHESLINE HOOK Jack Berman, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application November 1, 1946, Serial No. 707,187

' 1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to clothes line hooks of the type adapted to besecured to the side of a window, and aims to provide novel and usefulimprovements whereby the hook is pivoted and may be swung through an arcto bring the end of the clothes line inward for convenience to thehousewife. In the case of the ordinary hook which is fixed on the sideof the window, the user has to lean far out and reach over to grasp theline, and this practice involves an element of danger of losing onesbalance and falling out, as well as being inconvenient in general.

Another object of the invention is the provision of means, inconjunction with the pivoted hook, for releasably locking the hook ineither its normal position substantially at right angles to the Wall ofthe house or in its swung-in position at substantially greater than aright. angle to its normal position.

The above and additional and more detailed objects will become apparentin the following description, wherein characters of reference refer tolike-numbered parts in the accompanying drawing. It is to be noted thatthe drawing is intended for the purpose of illustration only and that itis neither desired nor intended to limit the invention to any or all ofthe specific details of construction shown excepting insofar as they maybe deemed essential to the invention.

Referring briefly to the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view through the wall of ahouse, showing the clothes line hook of the invention in plan view, innormal or extended position in full lines and in swung-in position inbroken lines.

Fig. 2 is a side View of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a detail.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral l0 indicates the sill ofa window and the numeral H the vertical window frame member. An L-shapedsupport H has its vertical arm I 3 secured to the window frame H in anydesired manner, as, for instance, by means of a screw l4. Spaced belowthe screw M the arm I3 is provided with a prong-like projection adaptedto pierce the frame I l to give greater stability to the support I2. Thehorizontal member or base l6 of the support I2 is provided with a squareopening I! therethrough in which the square hub l8 at the base of anupright fluted cylinder l9 registers.

The cylinder [9 is hollow and has a bolt 20 4 extending through andregistering in the axial bore 2| therethrough. The head of this bolt isshown at 22, and its lower end'is threaded to receive a nut 23. Ofcourse a rivet could be used instead of this bolt. The head 22 of thebolt is tapped to receive a screw 24. 1

A vertical radial groove 25 is provided in the cylinder in a planepassing through the axis of the cylinder, that is, at right angles tothe house wall. Similar additional radial grooves 26 and 2! are providedin vertical planes not at right angles to the first-mentioned plane butrather extending angularly toward the house wall, as shown in Fig. 4.

A plate 28 has an opening 29 through one end, through which the bolt 20passes to lock the plate rotatably on the top of the cylinder IS. Theshank of the hook 29 is shown secured to and in alignment with the plate28 by means of screws or rivets 30, although it could just as well beprovided integral with the plate as an extension thereof, not shown. Acarriage 3| in the form of a sleeve rectangular in cross-section, isslidably mounted on the plate 28; the carriage 3! has a dog 32projecting forward from the bottom wall thereof, and also has a rigidfinger 33 extending upward and outward from the rear edge of the upperWall thereof. The upper wall of the carriage may be provided with alongitudinal medial slot 34, substantially as shown. A tension spring 35has one end looped around the finger 33 and the other end around thescrew 24, thereby normally urging the carriage 3| toward the cylinder l9 and hence releasably looking the carriage dog 32 in either of thegrooves 25, 26, or 21.

Normally the clothes line 36 and the hook 29 are positioned as shown inFig. 2 and in full lines in Fig. 1, that is, substantially at rightangles to the house wall, and in that position the dog 32 registers inthe groove 25. Hence the plate and hook are constrained from swingingout of that position. When it is desired to swing the hook into theposition shown in broken lines in Fig. 1, for convenience in handlingthe clothes line, the plate 28 or the shank of the hook 29 or both, aregrasped in the hand and a finger of the hand is used to pull the finger33 outward, thereby disengaging the dog 32 from the groove 25. Then thehook and its related parts are swung inward toward the window, with thedog 32 riding on the cylindrical surface between the grooves 25 and 21until the dog falls into the groove 21. In the latter position the hookis also releasably locked, so that the user may proceed to use the linein the usual manner but with far greater facility and safety than is thecase with the common fixed hook. The manner of restoring the hook to itsextended position is obvious.

The additional roove 26 on the other side of the cylinder [9 is providedso that the device may be attached to either the left-hand or righthandside of the window, to accommodate the preference of the user.

Obviously, modifications in form and structure may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

A device of the class described comprising a support adapted to besecured to a wall, said support having an arm extending horizontallyoutward therefrom, a hollow cylinder mounted upright on said arm, aplate having an opening through one end thereof, a bolt having a headpassing through said opening and through said cylinder thereby rotatablymounting said plate on said cylinder between said head and saidcylinder, said plate having a hook on the end there- REFERENCES CITEDThe following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 839,729 Chance Dec. 25, 19061,059,856 Fox Apr. 22, 1913 1,518,824 Smith Dec. 9, 1924

